# Georgia — Medical malpractice certificate/affidavit of merit requirements by US state — quoted from the state statute or court rule

For Georgia, document required is affidavit of an expert competent to testify; filing deadline is file with the complaint; who must sign is an expert competent to testify; consequence of non-compliance is the complaint shall be dismissed for failure to state a claim; statute or rule citation is § 9-11-9.1, recorded from its source on 2026-09-02.

- **State:** Georgia _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **Document required:** affidavit of an expert competent to testify _(verified: appears in its own passage below)_
- **Filing deadline:** file with the complaint _(verified: appears in its own passage below)_
- **Who must sign:** an expert competent to testify _(verified: appears in its own passage below)_
- **Consequence of non-compliance:** the complaint shall be dismissed for failure to state a claim _(verified: appears in its own passage below)_
- **Statute or rule citation:** § 9-11-9.1 _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_

## What the source says

> The contemporaneous affidavit filing requirement pursuant to subsection (a) of this Code section shall not apply to any case in which the period of limitation will expire or there is a good faith basis to believe it will expire on any claim stated in the complaint within ten days of the date of filing the complaint and, because of time constraints, the plaintiff has alleged that an affidavit of an expert could not be prepared. In such cases, if the attorney for the plaintiff files with the complaint an affidavit in which the attorney swears or affirms that his or her law firm was not retained by the plaintiff more than 90 days prior to the expiration of the period of limitation on the plaintiff's claim or claims, the plaintiff shall have 45 days after the filing of the complaint to supplement the pleadings with the affidavit.

## Where each value comes from

This source states these in separate places, so each value is shown with the passage that states it.

### Document required

> the plaintiff shall be required to file with the complaint an affidavit of an expert competent to testify, which affidavit shall set forth specifically at least one negligent act or omission claimed to exist and the factual basis for each such claim.

### Filing deadline

> the plaintiff shall be required to file with the complaint an affidavit of an expert competent to testify, which affidavit shall set forth specifically at least one negligent act or omission claimed to exist and the factual basis for each such claim.

### Who must sign

> the plaintiff shall be required to file with the complaint an affidavit of an expert competent to testify, which affidavit shall set forth specifically at least one negligent act or omission claimed to exist and the factual basis for each such claim.

### Consequence of non-compliance

> If either affidavit is not filed within the periods specified in this Code section, or it is determined that the law firm of the attorney who filed the affidavit permitted in lieu of the contemporaneous filing of an expert affidavit or any attorney who appears on the pleadings was retained by the plaintiff more than 90 days prior to the expiration of the period of limitation, the complaint shall be dismissed for failure to state a claim.

## Source

- https://codes.findlaw.com/ga/title-9-civil-practice/ga-code-sect-9-11-9-1/

Last verified: 2026-09-02. Review by: 2027-09-02.
Part of [Medical malpractice certificate/affidavit of merit requirements by US state — quoted from the state statute or court rule](https://referencesource.org/medical-malpractice-certificate-of-merit-by-state/).